Validity of the Stimulus Familiarization Effect under Varied Choice Instruction Situations for Young Children

First-grade children (48 boys, 48 girls) were asked to select one toy from a pair either to keep permanently or to play with immediately. Subjects had been familiarized with one of the pair for either 3 or 5 min.; the other toy was novel. Children preferred novel toys to play with immediately but familiar toys to keep permanently. However, more than 3 min. of familiarization was necessary before the stimulus familiarization effect became evident.

White Boys' Ratings of Pictures of Whites and Blacks as Related to Amount of Familiarization

120 fourth- and fifth-grade white boys were shown photographs of four white and four black boys, the various white and black pictures being presented 1, 5, 10, or 20 times. Ss then rated these photographs, plus two (one white, one black) not previously exposed, on a scale indicating the extent to which they “would like to bring the boy home to spend some time with them and their families.” (a) The black pictures were rated more favorably than were the white pictures; and (b) increasing familiarization was associated with an increase in favorability for black pictures but a decrease for white pictures. These results were discussed with reference to certain of the explanations that have been offered regarding the attitudinal effects of stimulus familiarization.